Abstract
We consider the problem of finding the mechanism that maximizes the revenue of a seller of multiple objects. This problem turns out to be significantly more complex than the case where there is only a single object (which was solved by Myerson, 1981). The analysis is difficult even in the simplest case studied here, where there are two exclusive objects and a single buyer, with valuations uniformly distributed on triangular domains. We show that the optimal mechanisms are piecewise linear with either 2 or 3 pieces, and obtain explicit formulas for most cases of interest.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 718-727 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Mathematical Economics |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Auctions
- Incentive compatibility
- Mechanism design
- Multi-dimensional mechanism design
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Applied Mathematics